Suffering
by Muleicious
Summary: After the execution of The Signless, the Grand Highblood is visited by a vision of the troll he killed. Soon, the spirit of the candy red blooded troll shows visions of his past to his executioner, visions that will bring the Signless' past into view as well as the Highblood's. (Ancestors are refereed to by their Pre-Scratch names at times. Possible spoilers for Homestuck).
1. Prologue

** He looked among his people, his 'friends', and smiled. The man smiled like a motherfuckin' angel, an angel free of this plane. I hated that smile, and yet it won't leave my head… IT WON'T LEAVE MY MOTHERFUCKIN' HEAD! His words burn in my mind like the words of the murthal minstrels themselves. They burn me brothers, like the fires that Her Imperial Condescension had burning under his feet.**

** The motherfucker was insane, a mutant whose blood looked of cotton candy, but tasted of lies and deception. I have spoke to his Disciple, to his lucus, to the motherfuckin' Helmsman himself, and I know as much about him as we knew in the beginning. He was a grub with no creature to nurture him, as the sea-dragons nurtured us. He was taken in by the caretaker, the Dolorosa, and loved by his Disciple. Many feared him, many wanted to join him, and many died by our hands to end it all. Under the orders of Her Imperial motherfuckin' Condescension, of course. I write this letter to you, my brothers, with the blood of the motherfucker himself. The blood of the troll who spoke of a time where blood wouldn't matter, and that we would all live in harmony. The Lowbloods, and the Highbloods, all living together like some motherfuckin' colony of thinkpan deprived, motherfuckin' grubs!**

** His heresy was dark, my brothers, but it is over now. The Sufferer suffers no more, and The Signless is now lifeless. Spread the word brothers, spread it to all four corners of Alternia… And let the rebels know that their leader is now my ink well.**

** In the name of Her Imperial Condescension,**

**Grand Highblood Makara.**

:0)

Grand Highblood Kurloz Makara dipped his finger back into the small well of candy red blood, letting the fluid soak into this skin. He had always loved the feel of the blood of the lower class on his skin, right before he painted the walls of his throne room with his new 'miracles'; however, this blood left a bitter feeling in the pit of the subjugglator's digestion track. The large, clown-like troll stood from his writing chair and looked out the window of his hive. The land below was dark, barren like the many Faygo bushes he had planted a few weeks ago.

"Soon," the Grand Highblood said, "soon, those bushes will overflow with the ripe fruit of the wicked elixir. Then, I will feast like a motherfuckin' king." He spoke to himself, and no one else. His own revelation only made himself feel worse, as if he was moments away from a meeting with Her Imperial Condescension herself. He barely cared for the empress, the very thought of her reciting any of her disturbing fish puns made Kurloz's skin boil. "It's a tunic… Not a motherfuckin' tuna." He repeated to himself.

The Grand Highblood looked at the well of candy red colored blood once more, and felt his digestive track turn on itself as well. The troll couldn't understand, what was it about this blood that weakened his stomach? Was it the color? No, it reminded Makara of cotton candy, a delicacy on this barren rock. The feel of the liquid? No, it felt just like every other lowblood, blue blood, and pirate motherfucker's blood. What was it? WHAT THE MOTHERFUCKIN' HELL WAS IT?!

"Was it… Our moirailegence?" A calm, collected voice said in the back of the High Blood's mind. Makara turned, and met face to face with the white eyed ghost of the troll he had just killed. The Signless, The Sufferer, Kankri Vantas.

Kurloz shook his head, running his blood caked fingers through his hair, "'Nother hallucination. I need my faygo."

"I am no vision Kurloz," The Sufferer replied, still standing in front of the larger, unpredictable troll, "I am a vision. A vision sent to remind you of your promise… You broken promise."

"Leave me alone, motherfucker. I don't need to be reminded of what I said to you, my loyalty comes first." The large troll pushed through the ghost, letting it dissipate and reform in the doorway once more.

Kankri laughed, a laugh that shouldn't have been known to Alternia for centuries. "That's just fucking great! Now you're telling lies that even you don't believe."

"SHUT UP!" The Grand Highblood screamed as he turned back to the spirit of his moirail, a spirit that was no longer there.

"I will teach you, Kurloz Makara." The voice of The Signless said, the boom of his words echoing in the purple blooded troll's ears. "I will teach you of my story, and you will learn the power of your friendship…"


	2. Youth

"She was a kind woman," The Signless began, the world around the two trolls disappearing into a void of pitch black darkness. "The kind of woman that knew she could truly show flushed feelings, and who you would never want in the black around you." Slowly, a scene of a poorly lit hive came into view around Kurloz Makara. The subjugglator looked around him, this place was unfamiliar to him, yet he felt at home somehow. He stood next to the ghost of his worst enemy, and glared at the room they had entered.

"What kind of motherfuckin' trick is this, Vantas?" The Grand Highblood asked, his eyes finally reaching the form of a younger troll. This troll wore what the Highblood could only describe as 'motherfuckin' ridiculous', even by subjugglator standards. The young, nubby horned troll before him work only pants and boots; however, the pants were pulled high and covering his stomach and part of his chest.

"It's no trick Kurloz, it's my past… It's me." Kankri pointed to the smaller troll, whom had finally stood and rushed out of the room. Makara turned to look at his spectrol guide, the dark colored cloak/poncho seemed to cover a normal sitting pair of pants. The Sufferer turned to look at his aggressive friend, and met his glare with a smile. "I was going through a strange phase, having never seen how trolls, other than my mother, dressed."

This finally forced a smile across The Grand Highblood's face, a humorless chuckle protruding from his lips. "You really were a stupid ass motherfucker when you were a grub, weren't you?"

"Aren't we all?" Kankri answer, only to have the hand of his 'friend' clutch his throat. The Signless stared, unphased by the efforts of The Grand Highblood's attempts to choke the life out of him.

"Don't you… Ever… Fucking call me a stupid ass motherfucker." The calmness in Kurloz's voice didn't even start to upset the pure rage that his eyes showed. The subjugglator leader finally dropped the spirit, after figuring that trying to kill a ghost was the most pathetic type of irony Paradox Space had seen so far. There would be more, of course, but for now it was the most pathetic irony the universe had seen.

The Signless stood, his legs seemed to only strengthen in the face of this anger, anger that he felt boil in his own veins like a soup on a high flame. "Let's continue, shall we?" He lead the other troll out of the room, down a flight of stone stairs, and into the larger living area of the hive itself. It was only slightly larger than the young troll's own room, but it seemed to be enough for the two sitting in it. The smaller troll was there, his pants still so high it looked as if he had been given the most legendary of wedgies, but along with him was an older, female troll. Porrim Maryam giggled as the child played with a pair of stone carved figures, a giggle that was coated in love and sweet like honey. Her laugh seemed to be unforced in all regards, but it also seemed hollow… Unhappy… At least to Kurloz.

The Highblood turned to his guide, a speck of sadness in his malice filled eyes, but only a speck. "This… is her, isn't it?"

The Signless nodded, a sad sort of smile crossed his lips, "Yes… My mother, my lucus…"

"Dolorosa?" The younger troll asked, the stone figures now on the rocky table that sat before his adoptive mother.

"Yes, My Dear Kankri?" The voice of the female troll sounded as if she was born into a higher shade of the hemospectrum than she had been. A servant to the Mother Grub just didn't fit her dignified, yet ostentatious voice.

"Can… Can we go see the town? Please?" young Signless asked his mother, his eyes full of light and hope.

"I'm Sorry Young One, But We Cannot." Porrim knelt down by the child, her ornate green dress seemed to conform to this stance. It remained unwrinkled, unblemished, perfect. "The Others Would Not Understand Your… Ways." The Dolorosa blushed jade as she looked at the young Vantas' pants, and quick laugh stifled for the sake of the smaller troll's feelings.

"What do you mean?" the child asked.

At this point, Kurloz turned to the specter of Kankri, the two of them watched the scene unfolding in front of them still. "Is there any motherfuckin' point to this? Or did you just want me to see you not realize your motherfuckin' pants were too high up as a grub?"

The Signless sighed, "It's always to the point with you, isn't it Kurloz? I wish for you to learn, and yet you force yourself to stay in the dark."

"Well, this place isn't exactly lit up, mutant." The Grand Highblood smiled, hoping his note had hit a nerve in the ghosts' thinkpan… It had.

Quickly, with the rage of a tidal wave in the great seas of Alternia, The Sufferer turned to the leader of the subjugglators and pinned him against the wall. A sickle appeared in Kankri's hand, seemingly from nowhere, and pressed against the larger troll's neck. The tip of the blade dipping into Kurloz's skin, and producing a drop of his purple blood. "THIS…" The Signless began, "IS THE MEMORY OF MY MOTHER, ONE OF THE FEW TROLLS WHO HAD EVER BELIEVED IN MY VISIONS. I WILL NOT LET AN ASSHOLE, LIKE FUCKING YOU, INSULT THE WAY SHE AND I LIVED! SHE GAVE UP HER DUTIES, HER LIFE, FOR ME! SO DON'T YOU FUCKING DARE INSULT HER AGAIN, MAKARA! EVER!"

For the first time in many sweeps, The Grand Highblood felt fear. Yes, he had feared himself, as all members of his hemospectrum and religion do, but he had forgotten the last time he had feared another troll. The sight of his blood was something Kurloz was used to, but not this easily, and not by him… Not by this lowblooded mutant bastard! The Highblood tried to break out of Kankri's grip, but somehow he couldn't. This smaller troll, this mutant motherfucker, was overpowering him somehow. Was it some sort of otherworldly, ghost hoofbeast shit? That was the only explanation The Grand Highblood could think of, it was the only way this… This skinny bastard could even hope to match his strength.

"Fine, FINE!" Kurloz said, holding back what seemed like sweeps of fury. "I apologize, motherfucker. I'll stay away from your lucus when it comes to this memory jumping shit."

The Sufferer glared into the Highblood's eyes, then lowered his weapon slowly. "Good… Good." the candy red blooded troll breathed deeply, the air seeming to calm him before he finally exhaled. "At the treat of you not being able to hold up your end of this promise as well, let's speed through this time." Kankri waved his hand, and the two trolls before them began to move faster. The night sky soon became darker, the stars twinkling in the horizon when the memories of the trolls finally slowed to a normal speed.

"Mother, please!" the younger Kankri pleaded, his eyes welling with tears.

"No! Signless… You're too young to understand my dear." Porrim sighed, sitting next to her adopted wriggler and stroking his hair. "There Are Trolls Out There, Trolls That Wish To Hurt You; Possibly Much Worse, My Dear. They Wish The Same For Me As Well, And That Is Why We Must Hide. We Must Stay To The Shadows, So That You Will Be Able To Grow Into An Adult Troll."

"I still don't understand, why can't we just leave for a night?" The young Signless looked to his mother still, his eyes large and full of tears like the very oceans of Alternia.

"Child… We Cannot… Now Please, Return To Your Room, My Little Signless." the female troll kissed the top of her child's head, as tenderly as she would pluck a rose. The younger Signless frowned, pouting like the wriggler he was, then made his weary way to his respite block. As the young troll disappeared from the main room, the scene dispersed and The Grand Highblood and his ghostly guide were returned to the blacked void that they had arrived in.

96

"Did you expect me to find some fault in myself from watching your little wriggler ass asking your lucus to go out and play, motherfucker?" Kurloz growled at The Signless, his eyes burning with the rage of his minstrel masters.

"I did not." Kankri stared straight into the void, his face betraying no emotions. "I was merely setting the groundwork for when you do see your errors, Kurloz." The Sufferer felt the heavy hand on his shoulder, the nails gripping his shoulder as if it were going to pop it off. "Do you think you can harm me, Kurloz?"

"Treat me with some RESPECT!" The Highblood wrenched Kankri's arm from his shoulder,the candy red blood of the shorter troll spurting like a fountain, a fountain of miracles. However, the miracles turned to dust, dust and smoke as the ghost form of The Signless flew into the very essence of the void. The subjugglator roared, like an animal trapped in his cage, as he turned and reached for the dust of Vantas. "Fight me! Fight me like a troll, motherfucker!"

Those words where the last that Kurloz said, as the red hot blade of The Signless' sickle stabbed through The Grand Highblood's chest. "I'll fight the way you do… Like a monster tearing at the corpse of a grub." And then The Highblood fell...


End file.
